CANACONA
“Yes, Parrikar did call me up saying that he wanted to meet me, but there was nothing more to it. He has not forced me to withdraw my candidature and he would be under an illusion if he believes that he will get me to withdraw my nomination. He is not aware of the anger among BJP workers in Canacona over the party’s refusal to allot me the party ticket,” said Tawadkar, while speaking to The Goan.
Earlier addressing a news conference, Tawadkar reiterated that he would not succumb to any pressure and that, he would be the winning candidate from Canacona constituency.
“Till date, neither I nor my supporters have been given the reasons why I was
denied the party ticket,” said Tawadkar.
This is for the second time in this week that Parrikar has made attempts to get Tawadkar to withdraw from the fray and win back party workers who have deserted the BJP, to get them to work for the BJP candidate Vijay Pai Khot.
On Monday evening, a meeting convened for rebel party leaders in Canacona had evoked poor response. Only 28 of the 131-strong members from the BJP Canacona Block and including the Mahila Morcha, Yuva Sangh and 56 booth level committee presidents, had turned out to interact with Parrikar, State party chief Vinay Tendulkar, general secretaries and South Goa MP Narendra Savoikar and Sadanand Shet Tanawade and District President Sarvanand Bhagat at a hotel in Rajbag on Monday evening.
The disgruntled members had sought to know the party’s explanation for denying its ticket to Tawadkar, but Parrikar and other leaders reportedly evaded their queries and went on to speak about party discipline.
